Analysis: Will Kings give young players time to mature into winners?

Kings cite successes: 'We're excited about what we see'

Sacramento Kings General Manager/ V.P. of Operations Vlade Divac and Head Coach Dave Joerger highlight the season, players and facility during a press conference at the Golden 1 Center on Thursday, April 13 in Sacramento.

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Sacramento Kings General Manager/ V.P. of Operations Vlade Divac and Head Coach Dave Joerger highlight the season, players and facility during a press conference at the Golden 1 Center on Thursday, April 13 in Sacramento.

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The Kings can be optimistic about their future, but it would be a mistake to prematurely declare the team well on its way to the playoffs based off the last 25 games of the 2016-17 season.

The Kings’ young players showed potential, but the NBA season is 82 games, and with so many teams tanking games to close the season, Sacramento played the final weeks in what amounted to glorified exhibition games.

The team has several major issues to address going into the offseason to improve its perception around the league and the product on the court.

The Kings last week concluded their 11th consecutive losing season with the prospect of more losing to come with a young roster set to play the next couple of seasons.

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The team’s history under Vivek Ranadive’s stewardship suggests that patience will wear thin before the young players are near ready to become winners, and this incarnation of rebuilding will flop if there’s a rush to succeed before the roster is ready.

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Late last week, the Kings said rookie big man Marvin Bagley III would be ready to resume full basketball activities in approximately two weeks, but now Bagley says he is already running, jumping, shooting and working on his conditioning.